Nine Things
by MayukoMorita
Summary: Elena got bored. So she made a little list. College fic. TsengElena


**Nine Things**

(Elena was bored. So she decided to make a little list. TsengElena)

1) I like you a lot.

2) I hate it that you don't care that Reno's flirting with me.

3) I like your hair. Can I touch it?

4) You have beautiful eyes.

5) You have a great smile.

6) You're the hottest guy I've ever seen.

7) I hate it that you like Aerith.

8) You belong with me. Don't you know that?

9) I love you.

Elena labeled the list she made as "Nine Things I Want to Say to Tseng, But Can't". She sighed. Obsessed people like her shouldn't be allowed to get bored. They do overly obsessive-almost-stalker-ish stuff.

She tapped the library desk with her pencil. Apart from the list she just finished, in the two hours she's been in there, she hasn't been able to do any work. She hasn't been in the mood for the past five hours ever since she saw Aerith and Tseng in the school paper office together. Alone. Just the thought of Aerith is enough to make her go berserk. But she's in the library so she just takes it out on the pencil she's holding. She broke it in half and jammed it in the paper shredder. When you have anger management issues, it's wise to bring an extra anything. So Elena took out her extra pencil.

She's a columnist in the school paper and also a proofreader. Her deadline is tomorrow and, so far, she hasn't finished her article or proofreading the articles submitted to her. She hasn't even started. She went through the stack of papers in front of her to look for something short to start with. She came across Tseng's editorial. It filled two whole pages. Of course, those two whole pages had a 0.5 margin on all sides and he used 8 for font size. Nothing less of what you'd expect from the editor-in-chief. She put it aside. She wanted to save the best for last.

She went back to looking for a shorter article. This time, she came across Aerith's. The computer desks in the library are placed near the paper shredder. The desk she was using was the nearest. Boy, was she tempted. The shredder was almost beckoning to her. _C'mon, Elena. You know you want to._ But, no. She's not gonna do it. She's going to be mature, like Tseng.

When she finally found an article with three at-least-I-have-something-to-submit paragraphs she got started. She worked in the library until ten o'clock when the student-assistant left. She finished her proofreading at about midnight in her dorm. Then she made her article. It was an editorial about sexism. It was pathetic. But it's 2:00 am and she's running low on caffeine. The caf's closed. After putting all her finished work in a pile, she went to bed. The next day, she woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual (6:30) to stop by the school paper office to drop the stuff on Tseng's desk.

* * *

She went through almost the whole day without thinking about her list. Then, at her last period for the day, psychology, she got so bored that she decided to make her list longer. She looked for it in her bag. It wasn't in the main pocket. It must be in the other pockets then. She opened every single pocket in her bag, even the one where she throws the candy wrappers when she's in class. Still no Nine Things list. Oh shit.

_C'mon bell. Please ring, please ring. Now._ She left it in the library. Crap. She couldn't have left it in the library. _I just pretty much doomed the rest of junior and senior year._ Elena slumped her head on the desk. She needed to practice hiding her face. She's gonna do a lot of that for the next eighteen months. Then, the bell rang. _Shit._

She stood up immediately and ran out of the lecture hall, almost running over her prof. She sped across the hallway and out the building. She sprinted through the courtyard ignoring curious stares. She was hoping she was running fast enough for all of them to not recognize her.

She got in the library and opened the door violently that everyone in there glared and hissed "Ssshh!". She apologized hurriedly and fast-walked to the computer desk she used yesterday. Thankfully, no-one was using it at the moment even though all the others were occupied. But, before she could reach it, someone took it, oblivious of her crisis. Of course, being Elena, instead of asking politely, she wrenched the poor guy off the chair while saying "Seat's taken.".

"Hey, I was there first!", the guy complained.

"Ssshh!", the other students hissed.

"But she took my seat!"

"Ssshh!!!"

And the poor guy gave up and walked away. He's just gonna have to find some other café that has Wi-Fi.

Now, uninterrupted, Elena scanned every nook and cranny of the desk. The list wasn't on the work-surface. It's not under the table. It's also not in the drawer. _Shoot._ Someone must've found it. By this time tomorrow, she's going to be a laughingstock.

As she turned to walk away, she noticed the paper shredder. _Of course!_ The list wasn't there because the janitor must've been the one who found it and, thinking it was junk, threw it in the shredder. Well, that's a relief. She may have poured her heart out in that list, but at least there's no more evidence. Elena left the library with a relieved sigh.

* * *

On her way to the cafeteria for a celebratory muffin, she ran into Tseng. "Elena, I need to talk to you for a sec."

"Why? Was there something wrong with my article?". She sort of expected to get violent reactions with what she wrote.

"No. I just need to talk to you.", Tseng's tone was as enigmatic as ever. You could really never know what he's thinking.

"Um, okay.", and she followed Tseng to the paper office.

Tseng took something from the drawer of his desk. It was a piece of paper with something handwritten on it. Judging from Tseng's smile, Elena sort of thought this wasn't going to be painless. "I think you had this mixed-up with the other articles."

Elena didn't even bother looking at the piece of paper. She knew it was her "Nine Things I Want to Say to Tseng, But Can't" list. "Oh, r-really? Um, sorry about that.", she was trying to be as cool as possible.

"It's fine.", Tseng smiled. She wasn't sure if it was a suppressed laugh or something entirely different. Well, one thing she's sure of is that her heart's hammering like crazy and trying to be cool is getting harder every second.

"Well… I guess I'll be going now…". Elena "coolly" walked out of the office. But the second she closed the door, she ran as fast as she could to the courtyard, away from Tseng. That's it. Her life was over. Tseng knows she's in love with him. Now he's going to avoid her. She felt like crying. This was the most humiliating thing that's ever happened in her life.

With teary eyes, she looked at the list for the last time, just to remind her how embarrassing she is.

But wait. This wasn't her list. Well, it is. But it's different. There was more stuff written on it. On every item she wrote, opposite it was sort of a reply. And she knew that penmanship all too well.

1) I like you a lot. _I like you a lot too_

2) I hate it that you don't care that Reno's flirting with me. _I do care. And I hate it when he does that_

3) I like your hair. Can I touch it? _Of course. As a matter of fact, I want you to touch it_

4) You have beautiful eyes. _So do you_

5) You have a great smile. _You have an adorable laugh_

6) You're the hottest guy I've ever seen. _You're the sexiest girl I've ever seen_

7) I hate it that you like Aerith. _I don't. She's not my type_

8) You belong with me. Don't you know that? _I was hoping_

9) I love you. _I love YOU_

It took a few seconds for Elena to fully absorb what she just read. _Whoa._ She blinked a few times then looked back at the direction she just ran from. _I'm dreaming, aren't I?_ She slapped herself. Of course it was a dream. These things don't happen in real life.

But when she looked at the list again, Tseng's additions were still there. _Oh God. I'm not dreaming._ All of a sudden, she felt so high; like she just had an overdose of ecstasy. She turned and fast-walked back to the paper office. Hopefully, Tseng was still there.

She opened the door to the office and found Tseng working on his laptop. When he saw her, he stood up and just stared at her; almost like he expected something. She was still panting from the fast-walk. They stood there staring at each other for about fifteen seconds

Then Elena finally said "Your sentences don't have periods.". And she put her arms around Tseng's neck and pressed her lips onto his. He responded by wrapping his arms around Elena's waist and kissed her back.

Before she let her mind shut down and let the feeling take over her, Elena had a final thought. _"Your sentences don't have periods"?_

_

* * *

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reviews are greatly appreciated!_ ^_^  
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